


Warmth

by xanderbot13



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor 2B/9S (NieR: Automata), Pre-Canon, Rare Pairings, Sad gays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 17:57:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17533478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanderbot13/pseuds/xanderbot13
Summary: 9S experiences alarming symptoms after an unusually severe fight with 2B. He goes to 801S for help. He does his best to make his situation better, and helps him through his emotional outburst. Then, right as he's about to leave, 9S discovers 801S' secret that he had been keeping from him for so long.





	Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> Sad boys sad boys sad boys
> 
> (Warning: panic attack at the beginning)

Everything around him seems to bend as he stumbles out of his flight unit and crashes down to the floor. A strangled sob escapes his lips as he struggles to stand up and, holding onto his pod, starts running  to Maintenance. He gasps for air as the world spins around and his vision blurs and fades into static. He trips over his own feet as his balance fails him, his pod struggling to keep him up on his feet. He clutches onto her little metallic hand like a lifeline, running for what feels like miles without stopping until he’s at the elevator. He’s close now. Just a bit more, and he’s there.  _ He _ would make it all okay. Or at least he’d be able to get rid of this strange illness attacking his body.

  
His pounding steps echo through the Terminal Room as he makes his way to the adjacent room. Where is he? Where?! 9S’ breath quickens. His black box seems to stutter. He clutches his chest with his free hand and whimpers as the pain pulses throughout his body. His feeble legs threaten to give in and he’s sure he’s about to collapse, but he hears him just in time.    
  
“Hello? I’ll be out in just a second!” A voice calls from the other room, and 9S stumbles in through the doors.     
  
“Help me,” he mumbles in a shaky voice, meeting his gaze.   
  
“Nines!” 801S runs to him and puts his hands on his shoulders. “W-what happened to you? What’s wrong? Shit, you’re wounded! Come here,” his voice is too loud, 9S thinks as 801S takes him over to the closest cot and gently helps him lie down.    
  
He’s shaking violently and struggling to breathe, like a fish out of the water. “I-I don’t know what’s happening I checked my vitals e-everything was fine apparently but I can’t-I feel like I can’t breathe right something’s wrong with-with my vision there’s static and my chest hurts a lot n-not just the wound I think my black box something s-something's wrong I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know I,” he sobs, feeling dizzier and dizzier. It’s nauseating.   
  
“Shhhshhshh, it’s okay, it’s okay,” 801S mutters, stroking his cheek lightly. “I got you. I’ll fix this. Somehow. I promise I’ll do my best.” He’s glad 9S can’t see his alarmed expression. He’s never seen him like this and it worries him greatly.   
  
9S nods, leaning into his touch.    
  
“Okay. Hacking in.”    
  
He checks his vitals and every single one of his systems. Most of them come out green, his black box is working just fine, his lungs are fine despite his abnormal breathing pattern, his pulse rate is quite high, but not at dangerous levels, the pain in his chest seems to be caused by his own muscles contracting involuntarily...so far, he can’t find any significant threats. He digs deeper, and as he enters his brain functions, he finally finds the answer. It’s not a virus at all. It’s his own psyche attacking him. His fight-or-flight mode is malfunctioning. His most recent memories are going around in a never ending loop, and the emotions from that experience are multiplying themselves and causing these adverse reactions. He sends a signal and asks for permission to enter the memory loop, but he receives a denial instead. He tries again, but receives the same denial. Frustrated, he shouts.    
  
“9S! I know you hate showing your memories, but these are hurting you and causing an emotional overdrive. Let me fix this! Please, I want to help you!”   
  
He receives the same denial again, over and over.    
  
“Fine,” he sighs. “You leave me with no option, pretty boy. I’m sorry, but I’ll have to do this. Don’t you dare attack me, okay?” He says as he breaks the barriers one by one and accesses his memory region. There, he navigates to the memory loop in front and enters it.   
  
He watches it intently, feeling everything. The intense fight, the endless machines, the surprise attack, his blood boiling as he watches 2B get hurt, his nerves as she simply gets back up like it was nothing, his seething anger at the machines, his intense fear as she misses one hit just as the machine attacks, his impulse as it takes him into action and blocks the attack and shields her with his own body, the burning pain of his wounds, the ringing in his ears, the clashing of metal, the deafening explosions, the brief silence that follows them.    
  
Then 2B calling out his name, kneeling down to help him get back up. Her hands on his face, soft and warm. The worry written all over her face despite her eyes being hidden. Her careful, soothing touch as she applies staunching gel to his wounds. The dread he feels when her gentle voice suddenly turns bitter, first asking why he had done such a thing, then reprimanding him for his recklessness. His pulse rising. His mumbling apologies and excuses.   
  
_ It was going to attack you.  _ _  
_ _                               I was protecting you.  _ _  
_ _    I hate seeing you get hurt. _ _  
_ _                 You’re so important to me.  _ _  
_ _ I’d do anything for you.  _ _  
_ _ I’m sorry.  _ _  
_ _          I’m sorry.  _ _  
_ _                    I’m sorry.  _ _  
_   
Their argument as it increases in volume. His pulse rising. His breathing becoming shallow. The frustration in her face. His tearful eyes. The inevitable three words she always seems to use against him.  _ Emotions are prohibited _ . The dreadful silence that follows everything. His anger. His frustration. His rising fear. The horrible sinking feeling in his chest. His self-accusatory thoughts. His utter terror of losing her. His shame of having failed her. All of his intense emotions towards her flooding him all at once.    
  
All of it. Over and over and over and over and over, making his condition worse. 801S tries to cut the pattern to stop the loop, but it just goes back around. He tries a different way, but the same thing happens. He tries another function, but it still doesn’t change. No matter how many times he tries to change it, it keeps looping. Only 9S can change this, but he’s in no state to do so, so 801S exits hacking space and decides to try helping him a different way.    
  
When he exits, 9S reaches out and clutches his arm forcefully. “I told you not to! Why did you do that?! I told you-”   
  
“9S!” The boy flinches back and 801S immediately regrets snapping. He hesitantly reaches out and strokes his hair gently as to not startle him any further. “I’m sorry, I had to see what was going on. It’s your recent memories. They’re causing you an emotional overdrive. You have to concentrate and try to stop them from replaying. It’s not something I can fix.”   
  
He shakes his head, ignoring his words entirely. “It was my fault, it was all my fault! I let her down. She hates me. I failed her, I failed, I failed, I failed, ahh..hahhh...”    
  
801S bites down hard on his lip and carefully pushes 9S’ visor off, then his own, and takes hold of his both hands. “Nines, it’s okay. It’s okay, look at me,” he mutters softly.    
  
9S glances at him with agony in his eyes. The miserable sight before him tears him apart. He squeezes his hands gently. “Listen to me. You haven’t failed her. She was worried about you, that’s why she reacted the way she did. 2B  _ adores _ you, and like me, she just wants you to be safe. Okay? Don’t worry, sunshine. Everything’s gonna be alright.”   
  
“H-how do you know? How do you know she doesn’t hate me? How do you know she won’t just ask for a new partner? One that’s not as useless as me, one that can actually keep up and do everything without complaining or getting in the way all the time,” He squeezes his hands tightly.    
  
801S grimaces at the discomfort, but keeps stroking his hands with his thumbs anyway. Whatever comforts him is fine.    
  
“Nines, you are not useless. And just...believe me when I tell you, she really cares about you. Like you have  _ no idea _ . She might not show it to you, but she does.”   
  
“How are you so sure?” He frantically searches his eyes, his trembling hands making his own shake.   
  
“I just know,” he smiles gently at him and reaches up to stroke his cheek. “Now,” he clears his throat and let’s go of him as he turns around.    
  
9S’ eyes grow wide open, and he feels like he’s about to choke. “Wait please don’t go!” He sits up and grabs his hand in one swift motion.    
  
He holds it tightly, like it’s the last thing he’ll ever hold on to. He doesn’t know why he’s reacting this way, but for now, the warmth of his hand is his only comfort. If he goes, then it’s all over.   
  
The utter panic in his eyes and his uncontrollable shaking and panting make his heart sink. 801S turns on his heel and strokes his cheek gently. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I just need to get a muscle relaxant. It’ll calm you down, and make your chest pain go away. You’ll be able to disrupt the memory more easily like that. Okay?”   
  
9S stares at him for a few seconds and nods.    
  
He smiles. “Just give me a second,” he walks over to a table with supplies and opens a drawer.    
  
The lack of touch leaves him feeling ice cold. 9S follows his every movement with his eyes, trying not to drown in his turmoil of emotions. He feels so empty it hurts his very core. Like everything is slipping away through his fingers like dry sand. His breathing becomes even more elaborate. The chest pain is excruciating. He squeezes his eyes shut and whimpers. Just then, he hears 801S’ footsteps trotting back to him. He looks up with pleading eyes.    
  
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m here, sunshine. Here, let me get your coat. I’ll need to take it off anyway, since I still have to patch up that wound on your belly,” he says as he quickly unbuttons it and slides it off of him. He takes his bare arm and gently swabs a small patch of his skin with a cotton with alcohol, then prepares the needle and takes his arm again.    
  
“Here we go,” he whispers and inserts the needle as gently as possible.    
  
9S winces, but it’s over before he knows it.    
  
“Alright. It should kick in in a few seconds. You’ll be okay,” he smiles gently at him and strokes his hand softly.    
  
“Thanks,” he manages to say through labored breaths.   
  
“No problem, sunshine,” he gives his hand a gentle squeeze, then reaches for his medical kit and makes him lie back down.    
  
“Okay, I’ll need you to be still so I can patch you up, so let’s wait for this to take effect. How are you feeling now?”   
  
“Not better,” he mutters through his teeth.   
  
“Okay then, we’ll do this,” he takes his hand and strokes it gently. “Let all the air out, as much as you can, then slowly take a deep breath through your nose.”   
  
9S tries letting it all out and then takes in a shaky breath, but loses control and goes back to hyperventilating.    
  
“I c- I can’t.”   
  
“It’s okay, try again,” he says, squeezing his hand gently. “You got this.”   
  
He tries, but fails again. He doesn’t manage to take in a full breath until the fifth try.    
  
“Good, now really slowly, let it out through your mouth. Slowly.”    
  
801S keeps guiding him through the breathing exercise for a few minutes, until his breaths even out and his shaking is down to slight, occasional tremors. With that, he finally manages to be calm enough. 801S smiles down at him and runs his fingers through his hair.   
  
“All better?”   
  
“Yeah,” 9S whispers, closing his eyes.    
  
“Any chest pain?”   
  
He shakes his head.   
  
“Good,” he caresses his hair one more time and then reaches for his medical kit. “I’ll patch you up now, okay? Then you’ll be good to go.”   
  
He pushes his shirt up to reveal the wide slash on his belly’s upper right side and gets to work. Thankfully, 2B had done a good job with the staunching gel, so the bleeding had stopped. Once he’s done with that one, he moves on to the smaller one on the side of his forehead.

  
“Alright, I’m done,” he mutters and strokes his face delicately.    
  
9S opens his eyes and looks up at him. He doesn’t say anything for a moment, leaning into his warm touch.    
  
801S smiles softly. “How do you feel now?”   
  
He looks off to the side slowly. A single tear escapes the corner of his eye and rolls down his cheek.    
  
801S catches it and wipes it off with his finger. “Nines?”   
  
His jaw quivers slightly. He stays silent, fighting the urge to cry.    
  
“Nines, it’s okay. It’s okay, you can talk to me, you know that,” he sits at the edge of the cot right next to him and holds his hand with his free one and continues stroking his hair and face gently.    
  
More tears well up in his eyes and roll down his cheeks. 801S wipes them off delicately. “I really screwed up...” he whispers.   
  
“No, you didn’t. You did your best, and sure, maybe it was a reckless mistake, but it wasn’t more than that. 2B will forgive you, you know she will.”   
  
“We’ve never fought like that before,” he mutters.   
  
He sighs. “I know, I know. But you’ll be okay. She was just worried, Nines. I can only imagine what it must be like to be in the middle of a battle, fighting off multiple machines while also keeping an eye on you.”   
  
“I don’t need protection. I was just doing my job and providing support.”   
  
“Yes, but Nines. You’re a Scanner, not a Battler, and you sometimes act like you are.”   
  
“I wasn’t about to let her get struck down by that huge thing! She was already hurt and-”   
  
“Nines,” he puts his index finger over his lips. “She’s a Battler. She can handle those things, she’s built for that. While she might be down in a hundred strikes, you’re down in one. That’s why you’re supposed to stay further away. I know you’ve gotten pretty good at fighting, but hacking is still your main weapon.”   
  
9S frowns and shakes his head. “You don’t get it. You just don’t. She’s-” he sniffles and almost smacks his own face trying to wipe off his tears before they fall. “I hate seeing her get hurt.”   
  
“And I hate seeing  _ you _ get hurt, and I’m sure she does too. If...if I were in her place, I would have been upset too. If you had jumped in front of me like that. And watching you take that blow...Nines, I know you care a lot about her, but you also need to think of yourself and your own safety-”   
  
“I don’t care,” he snaps, “I don’t care if I get hurt, I don’t care if I die, if it’s for her, I-”   
  
_ “I do care!” _ He squeezes his hand, making him flinch slightly. “And...and I’m pretty sure she does too. Didn’t you see? She was crazy worried, Nines. She wouldn’t have been that upset otherwise.”   
  
9S stares at him for a second and looks away. “But then...why does she hide it? Why is she so distant? Why does she keep hiding herself? Whenever she catches herself smiling, whenever she shows even the slightest bit of emotion, she always reverts back to acting like it never happened and...just. Why? I know ‘emotions are prohibited’ and all, but,” he can’t finish his sentence. There are too many emotions invading his mind that he can’t even start to name, his tears keep flowing, and he can’t stop them now. He sniffles and curls into himself on his side.   
  
801S bites his lip and leans down, wrapping his arm around 9S. He just holds him there for a moment, letting him cry silently into his chest as he runs his hand up and down his back.    
  
After a few minutes, he hears a voice calling from the other room and footsteps approaching. 801S shuts his eyes and groans. Before they can reach this room, he reluctantly  pulls away and sits up.    
  
“I’ll be right back, okay?” he whispers and walks out the door.    
  
The sudden rush of cold air makes 9S shiver slightly and he curls up tighter into himself, careful not to stretch his patched wound too much. It feels like ages pass before 801S comes back.    
  
“Sorry I took a while, someone wanted some upgrades installed.” He smiles down at him and strokes his head gently.    
  
9S looks up and hums as a vague response.    
  
“Hey uh, Nines? I was thinking, why don’t we go somewhere else? So nobody will bother you,” he suggests.   
  
“Don’t you have other work to do?”   
  
“I could ask someone else to cover for me.”   
  
801S could be sickly sweet. Sometimes it makes him feel strange, but not in a bad way, not at all. It could just get very embarrassing when he does something extremely special, and he doesn’t even know how to react other than blushing like an idiot. But today, he doesn’t mind it one bit. Still, he worries he’s doing too much for him, and forgetting himself.    
  
“You sure?”   
  
“Mhm,” he nods and takes his hand. “C’mon, let’s go to my room if you want, since it’s closer.”   
  
“Okay,” he mutters and sits up, seeing there was no point in arguing. He grabs his coat and throws it back on without bothering with the buttons, then stuffs his visor and gloves into the pockets.   
  
Meanwhile, 801S calls another Scanner and asks him to cover for him for the last couple hours of his shift, promising to repay the favor. When he’s done with the call, he takes 9S’ hand and walks with him to the elevator. Once in the room, 9S kicks his boots off and crawls into the bed, curling up on his side. 801S smiles softly and takes his own boots off as well, then lies down beside him, knees touching. Without much thought, 9S reaches for his hand. 801S gasps softly.    
  
“What?” 9S mutters.   
  
He shakes his head. “Nothing,” he smiles and squeezes his hand gently. He gets a squeeze back.    
  
9S lets out a soft sigh, feeling a bit more at peace, and closes his eyes. “801S?”   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“Thank you,” he whispers.   
  
He smiles. “Always.”   
  
9S opens his eyes slowly and scoots a bit closer. “Is it okay...if we hug again?”   
  
“Of course,” he grins softly and carefully puts his arm around him, bringing him closer.    
  
9S does the same and buries his face in his chest. They stay like that for a while in peaceful silence, simply enjoying that warmth and comfort.    
  
“801S?”   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“Do you think she’s still upset?”   
  
“I don’t know, Nines,” he mutters, running his hand up and down his back slowly.   
  
“...Do you really think she’ll forgive me?”   
  
“Of course,” he nuzzles into his hair.   
  
He stays silent for a moment. “I’m just...if she ever knew about...if she knew how I really felt, she would never look my way again...”   
  
801S sighs and pulls back to look at his face. “Nines, what are you saying?”   
  
He averts his gaze, regretting opening his mouth. “Nothing.”   
  
“Nines,” 801S holds his chin up, trying to make him look at him.   
  
9S still looks down. His cheeks growing hot.   
  
“It’s just...there are so many thoughts...so many feelings I can’t even begin to understand. And I know it’s wrong of me to feel this way, but, I can’t help it. I’m just...” he pauses, “drawn to her,” he whispers, “in a way I can’t explain. I don’t why, I just, I want- I need...I don’t know...” he sighs and furrows his brow slightly. “I just know that I can’t ever lose her, or I might go insane...it just hurts so much...all of this...”   
  
801S bites his lip and frowns softly. His chest aches as he listens. It’s a kind of pain he knows all too well. “N-nines...” It hurts so much to see him like this, but what should he say? _ ‘Yeah, I know exactly how you feel, I’ve felt that way about you since the first day I met you, the very first time and every other consecutive one’? _ _  
_   
“Just forget it,” he shakes his head. “Forget I said anything.”   
  
“No. Nines...” he hesitantly strokes his cheek with his fingertips. “I...know how you feel,” he confesses. “There’s someone I...care...very much about. And it is _torture_ , because I know he would never care about me like that. But when he’s with me and he smiles it’s like...rays of light.”   
  
9S stifles a laugh. “That’s funny.”   
  
“What is?”   
  
“2B, she’s...she’s like that, to me. Like rays of light. When I’m with her, I always feel so warm. Like, no matter how bad it gets, I know that I’ll be alright if I’m with her.”   
  
His eyes fall and he slowly stops stroking his face. “You see? It’s the same. Or at least similar,” he smiles sadly.   
  
“Yeah,” 9S whispers and sighs.    
  
They fall into comfortable silence as 801S plays with his hair and hums a quiet melody. 9S snuggles closer and buries his face in his chest again.   
  
“So...who’s the lucky guy?” He teases.   
  
801S freezes for a few seconds. “That’s...a secret. Nobody’s allowed to know. It’s top secret information.”   
  
“Not even me?” He looks up into his face.   
  
“Not even you,” he says, looking away with a faint blush forming on his face.   
  
“Hey, that’s not fair. You know about 2B, why can’t I know?”   
  
801S looks off to the side. His face is pink. “I...don’t want you to accidentally tell anyone.”   
  
“Oh, c’mon! You know you can trust me. We’re friends, aren’t we?”   
  
He frowns slightly and turns his gaze towards him. “You really wanna know?”   
  
9S smirks. “It’s only fair.”   
  
“Alright. Well, his name is...” he leans in close to his ear and whispers, “None of your business.”   
  
9S pushes him away and glares playfully. “Stupid.”   
  
801S laughs pulls him back into his embrace. 9S struggles against him for a moment, before giving up and begrudgingly snuggling back into his chest. He breathes in his scent and recognizes the faint smell of vanilla. Like the soap he gave him for his ‘birthday’. 9S smiles, feeling warm inside all of a sudden. He starts tracing small circles on his back absentmindedly. 801S starts playing with his hair again, soothing him and relaxing him. After a while, his eyelids flutter closed as he falls into sleep mode. 801S follows shortly after.

 

 

The following morning, 9S wakes up to the sound of his pod’s alarm. He groans, reaching out and patting it. 

“Mm awake, I’m awake,” he yawns and snuggles back inside the covers. “Just give me a moment,” he mumbles.

“Affirmative.”

He yawns again and pokes his head out. Wait, this isn’t his room. His sluggish thought processes take a few seconds to remember the previous night. Oh, that’s right, he slept over in 801S’ room. He must’ve woken up earlier. He had a job to do after all. 

9S stretches out and rolls out of the bed. He quickly throws on his coat, puts on his gloves and visor back on, and puts on his boots. He walks outside with his pod and heads over to Maintenance.

801S is working at the terminal when he arrives. At the sound of his footsteps, he turns around. 

“Morning,” he smiles.

He feels his chest grow warm. Might have to get that checked. “Hey.”

“Sleep well?”

“Yeah, better than most nights actually. Thank you,” he smiles softly.

He grins. “It’s no problem, sunshine.”

9S’ face heats up and he looks away. Why can’t he just stop calling him those sappy names?

“So, uh...when do you think I’ll be good to go? I can barely feel the wounds anymore.”

“Let me check them and I’ll tell you. Come here,” he guides him over to one of the cots in the other room. 

He checks the wound on his head first and then unbuttons his coat once again to see the other one. He quickly cleans and changes both wounds’ dressings and buttons his coat back on. 

“Well?” 9S asks.

“I say you’re good to go, pretty boy,” he smirks. “But don’t go jumping in front of Goliaths this time, okay? Don’t give me more work than necessary.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he rolls his eyes as he stands up. Together they start walking over to the elevator.

“Hey, maybe when I get back, we can keep playing that building game we found.”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” 801S beams. 

9S smiles just looking at him. It makes him feel so warm. Almost like sunsh...wait. Suddenly, it all clicks into place in his mind.

He stops on his tracks and stands in front of him. “801S?”

He cocks his head to the side slightly. “Yeah?”

9S hesitates. He’s mostly just curious about it, but...he’s almost certain he’s right about this. 

“I...I just wanna try something.”

“Okay...what is it?”

He looks down and hesitates for a few more seconds. Then slowly steps forward and, closing his eyes, he presses his lips to his friend’s softly. He hears him gasp, but soon, he returns the kiss. 

801S feels like his brain is melting. This isn’t their first kiss, but it might as well be. It’s been too long. Way too long. He can’t even be bothered by the thought of 2B. He knows 9S loves her, but doesn’t mean their love couldn’t exist too. And he’s so tired of denying it to himself. All he wants is for 9S to be happy. Whether it’s with her or with him it doesn’t matter. He just wants to see him smile, and if he can do that for him, then that’s all he needs.

The same strange kind of warmth from before comes flooding into his chest and spreads all over him, making him want more of whatever this is. 9S smiles into the kiss and holds his face between his hands. 801S wraps his arms around his waist and brings him closer, kissing him needily. 9S reciprocates with a bit more caution, but with just as much tenderness. After a moment, he pulls back and reaches up to pull 801S’ visor down. He does the same for him. 

“N...nines…”

“So it was me? You were talking about me?”

His flushed face becomes beat red. “I…”

He laughs softly. “Don't worry, I won’t tell a soul if that’s what you want.”

801S is at a loss for words. He just shakes his head and embraces him, burying his face in his shoulder. 9S returns the embrace gently. He smiles.

“Nines...please come back.  _ Promise _ you’ll come back,” he mutters into his neck. 

9S reaches up to stroke his hair. “Of course. You know I always do.”

A quiet sob escapes his lips. 9S pulls back a bit to see his face. “Please, promise me,” he whispers. 

“Hey now, it’s okay. I’ll come back. You know I will,” he says comfortingly as he wipes a few stray tears from his cheeks. “Why are you crying?”

801S looks down and shakes his head. “I’m just...happy...and sad that you have to leave. And scared that something will happen to you,” he sniffles. 

9S pulls him back into his arms and holds him tenderly. 801S hugs him back and squeezes his eyes shut. He wishes he could never let go. But he knows he’ll have to. After a long while, he pulls back.

9S smiles. “Don’t worry. When I come back, we’ll play that game, and we’ll make all sorts of things. And I can greet you with another kiss. And we can sleep together again.”

The thought of doing all those things makes him smile. “For real?”

“Of course.”

801S reaches up and slowly strokes his cheek with his fingertips. “Come back in one piece.”

“Yeah,” 9S sighs.

801S grins and presses his forehead against his. “You’ll never know just how much this means to me.”

“Maybe I do. Maybe I’m starting to,” he mutters, reaching up to caress his face. “ _ Sunshine _ ,” he whispers.

He laughs softly. “You figured it out, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. I can’t believe you had been basically telling me all along. I’m sorry I didn’t realize…”

“You’re forgiven,” he snickers. 

9S smirks and presses one last kiss to his lips. “I’ll see you soon. I promise.”

801S sighs and nods. “I’ll wait for you.” 

  
  


A week crawls by slowly. Then two. Then three. Then four. And he’s still not back. He’s slow in responding to mail now too. The last time he got one from him was a week ago. Usually he’d only take a couple days at most. He wonders if he’s alright.  On the fifth week, a familiar face appears. 801S looks up from his work, and there he is. Standing in front of him. Without a single scratch, and good as new.

 

He smiles. “Hey.”

“Sunshine,” 801S immediately drops everything and pulls him into a strong embrace. “I’ve missed you so much,” he mutters as he buries his face in his neck.

“Uh...I’m sorry. I think you’re mistaking me for someone else.”

He freezes and immediately draws back. No. It can’t be. “Oh…”

“Heh, that’s alright. I’m 9S, I just rolled out a few days ago. The Commander sent me up here for maintenance. You’re 801S, right?”

No. No. No. It can’t be. This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. This isn’t- “Yeah, sorry. I just...you look a lot like someone I know.”

 

He did promise he’d come back. He just wishes it wasn’t like this.

**Author's Note:**

> :)))))


End file.
